A Bottle of Water
by Little Stern
Summary: Chihiro is called back to the Spirit World, and everything is in chaos, with questions looming everywhere. What is the looming darkness coming over the horizon, and what does Chihiro have to do with any of this? ChihiroxHaku
1. The Itch

There was one more week until school started. One more week until Chihiro went to her new school. One more week since she had seen Haku. She sighed, turning over in bed, and buried her face in her pillow, crying softly to herself. When she walked through that tunnel, all she could think about was seeing her parents again. Now…Chihiro wanted to go back and walk the other way.

It was amazing how when you were living an unreal life, you wanted your normal one back, but when the action stopped, it was as if your life stopped, too. Chihiro wanted Haku back with all her might. It was a longing that filled her entire being. She closed her eyes, and covered her ears with her pillow. When she did that, the wind almost sounded like a river flowing.

"Chihiro!" yelled her mom up the stairs. "Me and Dad are going out for awhile. Can you manage on your own?" Then, without waiting for a response, she and Chihiro's dad walked out the front door. Chihiro dragged herself out of bed, and slipped on her red shorts and striped t-shirt – the same clothes she had been wearing all summer. She sniffed them. They smelled like Haku…and home.  
Chihiro gave a start, dropping her socks. She had called the Spirit World home…Was that true? The word had just slipped into her head without a second thought. She shook her head, throwing away the cobwebs of doubt. THIS was her home, HERE in the real world. Just because she had spent about a week in the Spirit World didn't make it her home. That wasn't the question nagging at the back of her head.

Or wait… was it a question? No, it was more of a thought itching at the back of her brain. In fact, Chihiro scratched the base of her skull, but it wouldn't go away. It grew louder and more demanding, until she couldn't ignore it any longer. _Chihiro!_ it screamed, in a voice that was very familiar.


	2. Taken

_Chihiro!_ yelled the voice again. It was Yubaba's voice, a voice that Chihiro had come to dislike, putting it mildly, that is. Chihiro groaned, wishing for it to disappear, but Yubaba called again, screaming this time. _SEN!_ she now called, employing Chihiro's Spirit World name. Chihiro groaned and followed the voice out of the house and down the street following where it lead her. With her eyes still closed and half asleep, she didn't notice where Yubaba was taking her. If she had, she'd be delighted.

Yubaba's voice, unbeknownst to Chihiro, was leading her to a place that was quite familiar to her. A place she had found at the beginning of the summer. A place filled with memories, both good and bad. The voice continued leading her, and she stumbled over a hill, and then a creek, never opening her eyes. Suddenly, Yubaba's voice stopped. Chihiro couldn't hear it anymore. She tentatively opened her eyes, to see where she was.

Chihiro's eyes opened with a gasp. Right in front of her were all the friends she had left behind. They were dressed in rags, and looked hungry and war-torn, but they were there none the less. Haku wasn't there, though.

Yubaba stepped forward. "Come with me, Sen," in a voice neither demanding nor angry, as was Yubaba's custom. In fact, her voice was pleading, as if begging Chihiro to join her. Chihiro nodded and followed Yubaba, a stream in the crowd parting for them. She waved at everyone, but all they could manage was a weak smile each.

Now that Chihiro was closer up, she could the lines under all their eyes, their hollow cheeks, and worst of all, their defeated expressions. Yubaba quickly led Chihiro up to her office, where unhappy memories abounded. This time, however, when Yubaba sat down at her desk, she looked exhausted and hopeless.

"Sen…" she began, staring at the floor, "I don't know how to ask you this but will you help us? We need you badly." Chihiro looked at her strangely, startled to hear her old name again.

"Of course I'll help," she replied, tipped her head to one side, "but why do you need my help? And where's Haku?"

At the last question, Yubaba started, a ring dropping off her finger. "Y-You mean Haku's not with you?" she asked nervously, fingering her necklace.

Chihiro shook her head. "No," she replied firmly, "Why would he be?" She saw Yubaba's worried expression. "Yubaba, what's wrong? Where's Haku? And what's going on here?" Her voice rose and grew more worried with every second.

Yubaba hesitated, trying to find a way to talk. "Sen, honey," she said, almost sounding like her sister, "If Haku's not with you, sweetie, I'm afraid he's been…" She trailed off into silence.

"Been? Been what?" trilled Chihiro nervously, after a few seconds had gone by.

"He's been taken," At those words, though she did not yet know what they meant, Chihiro's past fell away. Chihiro was gone. She was Sen.


	3. Gone

"What do you mean, Taken?" asked Sen, pacing back and forth across the floor. "And why does everyone look even more unhappy here than they did before? Did you do this?" At the last question, Sen's head whipped around and she glared at Yubaba.

Yubaba backed her chair as far away from Sen as she could, almost toppling over in the process. All of her rings had fallen off by now. "It wasn't me, Sen!" she squeaked in fear, glancing at Sen as if she was about to pounce. "It was…Them."

By now, Sen had grown tired of Yubaba's vague replies. "Listen to me!" she snarled, in a way that she never had before. "I want answers! Not…he was Taken. By Them. Those answers don't mean anything to me!" She turned away, but looked back, eyes pleading. "I-I want to know what has happened to my home since I left."

Though Yubaba looked taken aback by Sen's use of the word "home", she consented. "Not long after you left," she began, looking fearfully at the door as though someone was coming, "strange things began to happen…"

"_The light started dimming… Not very quickly at first, but slowly and steadily. We don't mind the darkness, but it began to creep into our souls, our minds, our spirits… One night, it went black. The pitch black, where you can't even see your hand in front of your nose. We went to bed uneasily that night, and our dreams were filled with evil and fright. The next day, when it became light again, Kamajii was gone._

_It happened, time after time again, the same every time. The lights would disappear, and someone would be gone. Guests stopped arriving, and those that were here left. We've been losing our business, people have been disappearing, and no one's been able to stop them. We've been growing more and more hungry. Then, we found out what happened to those taken._

_The body was lying in the middle of the street, too badly mauled for us to know who it was. The sad thing was, he wasn't just killed – he had his essence sucked out of him. Unlike you, Sen, us spirits have essences, instead of hearts and souls; they're the only thing keeping us alive. He had lost his, and ceased to exist. Within minutes of us finding it, the body disappeared. Not just not being there, as if someone had stolen it away. No, it crumpled into sand and blew away, rising high on the wind._

_That is the fate of all who are Taken. Haku spoke of going to get you, because you are human, Sen, and do not have an essence, but a soul, which they might not be able to suck out of you. He left a few days ago. When he didn't return, I called you, hoping you would come, along with him. It seems he must've been Taken by Them. I'm sorry."_

Yubaba looked up, finished with her story. She saw Sen's eyes, which were brimming over with tears, and felt a movement inside her heart. Pity. An emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. And Love. The one emotion that was reserved for her Baby, but now she felt it welling up inside for Sen, who had just found out the one she loved was as good as dead.

Sen burst into tears, and fled from the room. There was one friend she had to talk to: Lin. Maybe Lin could help her understand. There was only one thing that she remembered about the story. _Haku was gone. Gone. Gone._ The word thrummed with every heartbeat. _Gone. Gone._


	4. The Essence

"Lin? Lin, where are you?" called Sen as she raced through the halls. Her running had already wiped away any trace of her tears, and for that she was grateful. The spirits she was passing in the halls were looking at her hopefully, as if she could maybe save them. Sen couldn't spare a thought for them. Her heart was still thumping _Gone, Gone_.

Just then, Lin raced around the corner, running in the opposite direction. She and Sen smacked into each other, toppling to the floor, and then burst out laughing. Many spirits peered out of doorways and looked at them strangely. Laughter had not been heard in the bathhouse for a very long time.

"It's good to see you again!" exclaimed Lin, wiping her eyes. She saw Sen's downcast face. "You found out, huh?" Sen nodded miserably, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Come with me, Sen. I have to show you something." Sen nodded again, and Lin pulled her to her feet.

Sen followed her throughout the halls, with her head down and stumbling on her feet. Her heart thrummed in her ears. _Gone. Gone._

Lin looked back at Sen, her face showing her pity. She hoped this would cheer Sen up, and if not… Lin shuddered. She didn't want to think about this possibility.

Lin led Sen back to where they had slept when they were working together. She opened a drawer, with her back to Sen, and lifted out something that shone brightly. Lin turned around, and Sen saw what it was: A glowing, pulsing, flowing, like a river flowing, bottle of water.

In that moment, Sen knew what it was. "Haku's essence…" she breathed.


	5. Evil

"W-Where did you get this?" stammered Sen, looking at the glowing object before her. It was so beautiful and flowing, yet it looked like the ice shards that pierced her heart from time to time.

"Haku gave it to me," explained Lin, gently dropping it into Sen's open hands. "He told me that if you returned without him, this was yours. Take good care of it, okay?" Sen nodded, pulling the bottle up in front of her face. For a moment, Lin thought she saw Sen's eyes become dark and cloudy, but a second later, they were normal again. _It must have just been the glass and water distorting her eyes,_ thought Lin, shaking away a feeling of foreboding.

"Lin?" asked Sen, breaking into her thoughts. "Does anyone know where… They live?"

Lin shook her head. "We don't know for a fact, but we have guesses." She looked at Sen's hopeful eyes and smiled ruefully. "You're NOT going."

"Yes I am!" retorted Sen, launching herself to her feet, before falling backwards on the mats again, making Lin smile. Sen got up and brushed herself off, muttering indignantly. She looked up at Lin. "I have to go! I have to save Haku!" She started out the door.

Lin grabbed her arm. "That's just what they want you to do!" she hissed through her teeth. They were attracting a commotion now. Lin dragged Sen back inside and firmly shut the doors. "They don't have Haku's essence, so they can't kill him, but you have it in your hands. If you go, they can steal it from you and murder him!"

Sen lowered her eyes to the floor. She knew Lin was telling the truth, but a burning feeling at the base of her heart told her to go anyway. "Lin…" she began, but then stopped realizing she had no clue what to say to convince Lin. But she began again anyways, realizing she had nothing to lose. "I have to go get Haku. It's like… I wouldn't feel right if I didn't. He's saved me so many times, yet I've barely begun to repay him. I have to go. Besides, don't you want save Kamajii?" She implored Lin with her pleading eyes.

No one could avoid her puppy-dog-eyes stare. Lin gave in. "Okay, okay, we'll go and save Kamajii and your boyfriend." Ignoring Sen's feeble squeaks about Haku and boyfriends and stuff Lin couldn't bear to listen to, she marched Sen down the hallway and back up to Yubaba's office.

"We're going to go stop them." Lin announced, slamming her hand down onto Yubaba's desk. Yubaba nodded and scurried away, quickly glancing at Sen as if to make sure she wasn't going to do any tricks. Finally, as she scurried back, Lin snatched the tickets out of Yubaba's hands and pulled Sen out to her boat-tub. They tumbled inside.

Lin rowed out to the train stop, while Sen sat burrowed deep in the bottom, hunched over miserably. For a moment, she became Chihiro again, and a tear trickled down her cheek. But the flash was soon over, and Sen was back.

When the pair reached the train stop, they were surprised to find almost everyone from the bathhouse waiting for them there. At the sight of the duo, they began cheering, and their despairing faces once again lit up with joy, and their frowns shifted upside-down ever so slightly. Sen and Lin stepped onto the train and found an empty seat in an empty car. Lin watched the celebrators with the ghost of a smile on her lips, and with her face pressed to the window until they were out of sight. Then, she sighed and turned toward Sen, but stopped short.

Sen was standing in the middle of the compartment, with her hair whipping about her face as if it was alive. She was holding the bottle out in front of her, but it was dimming even as Lin watched. She grabbed Sen's shoulder. "Wake up, Sen! Stop it!" she cried, shaking her. Sen's eyes snapped open. They were glowing dead black. Sen stepped toward Lin, who fell to the floor in panic. Engraved on Sen's face was a savage snarl that stretched beyond the bounds of merely evil. The look on Sen's face not only looked evil, but was evil itself, come to rest on an innocent girl's face.


	6. Tears

"Sen!" called Lin, but it was like shouting into a tornado. The wind that had been whipping Sen's hair was now whipping throughout the car, and it swallowed up Lin's words. Sen advanced, walking slowly toward Lin. The wind didn't bother her at all; in fact, it seemed to toy with her, and she could, Sen would've laughed.

"Die," whispered Sen, only it was not Sen speaking. It was someone else, with an evil, deep menacing voice. Lin had never heard it before. Sen could not hear it. But Chihiro, a flicker deep within Sen's dark soul, would've described it as the voice of the villain in a blockbuster movie. Sen raised her hand toward Lin, who cowered in fear, and her hand began to glow. A dead black glow.

Energy seemed to be sucked out of the air. All along the train tracks, plants began to die. The train began to move slower and slower, yet still fast enough so that no one but Sen and Lin would notice. And even Lin herself began to feel more tired, and began to think about how good it would feel if she could just close her eyes and drift away on the tides.

Inside of Sen was a being who was tired, but would not let that stop her. Chihiro was trapped in a dark cage, one that had just been illuminated. She looked around her. There was no escape. _NO!_ she screamed in a voice only heard by one. Sen smirked. But one thing happened that no one, not Lin, not Sen, not even Chihiro herself could've imagined. She fought back.

With the anguished-filled cry that she gave, Chihiro's entire being, that little speck in the corner of Sen's soul, was enraged. She refused to have her spark snuffed out in this corner of hell. (I'm not swearing, I just mean it's literally like hell. See?) The fires raged around her, and the darkness grew darker, if that was possible, but Chihiro refused to let go. _I WANT OUT!_ She shrieked in a voice that no human could make. The sound dove out of her being and out of Sen's body. It dove through the air, until it found two sources. The first was Sen's ears, and it tormented her and made her writhe in pain. The second was Lin's heart, where her energy was restored and her mind clear again. Her eyes snapped open.

The first thing she saw was Dark Sen twisting in pain. Not even understanding why, she dove at Dark Sen's feet, knocking her to the ground. As Chihiro's voice faded, so did Dark Sen's torment. She smiled, though it looked more like a grimace of pain, and struck out with her fist at Lin. Lin dodged, jumping back, and aimed a blow herself. While this battle was taking place, another battle was taking place inside of Sen, and this one more deadly. The spark that was Chihiro was circling around with the massively black shaped that was Dark Sen. The darkness was absolute, without even a glimmer of light within. It was also shaped like Sen.

Dark Sen lunged at Chihiro. Chihiro dodged, whipping to one side. Dark Sen lunged at Lin. Lin leapt to the side, then dashed out her own punch at Dark Sen. It made contact, bruising Dark Sen's side right down to the very bone. Dark Sen shrieked in pain.

The bruise also jerked Chihiro down to the very bone. To Chihiro, this pain was a sign of her failure. It meant she was losing her battled with Dark Sen. It would not be long before she would be destroyed.

This would be her fate except for one factor that everyone had forgotten about. As Lin's fist made contact with Dark Sen's side, she dropped her bag (Dark Sen, that is). Inside the bag was Haku's essence, which fell out when the bag was falling. Lin lunged and caught it, almost dropping it.

When she got up, cradling it in her hands, Dark Sen seemed less scary. Was it her imagination, or did Dark Sen seem to have dimmed? In fact, a look of fear glanced across Dark Sen's face, quickly being replaced by a smug smile. The foolish mortal wouldn't understand how to use it. With the essence, Dark Sen was invincible. Without it, she was just unbeatable. Dark Sen shrugged. No use standing around when there was work to be done.

Deep inside Dark Sen's soul lay Chihiro, beaten. Lying in a fetal position on the floor, her being's light glimmered faintly, but it was dimming, slowly but surely. Haku's essence had been giving her most of her strength, and with it gone, she was beaten and dying.

_Haku…_ whispered Chihiro sadly. Her throat choked up with emotion, and she could feel the sadness welling up inside of her. She would never be able to save him now. A single tear trickled down her cheek. When a body is only a spark in the depths of an evil soul, tears cannot appear. But a tear still appeared in Chihiro's eye. It dropped down, down, down, to the bottom of Dark Sen's soul, followed by another and another. Chihiro began sobbing into her glimmering hands, each tear a spark of light, diving down, down, down.

Lin looked up at Dark Sen from her position on the floor, expecting a blow or certain death. None came. Instead, she was surprised to see Dark Sen kneeling on the floor, tears dripping from her eyes. Lin walked over to her, and put her arm around her, thinking that the old Sen had come back.

Sen whipped her head up and snarled at Lin, her eyes glistening. "Don't touch me!" she roared in the same menacing tone she had been using. Lin withdrew watching Sen sob. She was still Dark Sen.

Chihiro wept. She wept for Lin, whom she would basically kill. She wept for her parents, who would never know what had become of her. She wept for all the people back the bathhouse, because their hopes would be dashed with her destruction. She wept for herself, as she would die in her own body, yet be a stranger there. Mostly, she wept for Haku. She had not proven herself worthy of him. With that, one final tear dripped down from Chihiro's eye. It joined the others down at the bottom of Dark Sen's soul.

Unbeknownst to either Chihiro or Dark Sen was their tears. Their tears, every time they fell, had created a small drop of light, both in Dark Sen's soul and eyes. Chihiro's final tear had lightened Sen's entire soul, so there was not a speck of darkness. Dark Sen's eyes were almost complete, but there was one last dot of black in them.

A single drop of water, the decider of the fate of the universe, welled up in Dark Sen's eyes. It fell slowly through the air, spiraling down, down, down.

(Cliff-hanger!!! Guess what'll happen!)


	7. Ba da da

**(I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I've been super busy, but I won't forget about this story. I've seen people who do that, and it makes me mad. Oops… I guess I'm kind of ranting. I'll let you get to the story)**

Dark Sen caught the tear in her outstretched hand. It turned black, and spread through every line and wrinkle, staining her skin. Dark Sen began to laugh, for now she couldn't be stopped. The tear, the last thing that could have defeated her, was now in her grasp, and she could control everything. Then something happened that only one being noticed. Not Dark Sen, for she was busy laughing evilly. Not Lin, for she was staring at Dark Sen in terror and backing away slowly, inch by inch. But Chihiro.

Chihiro noticed something no one else did. The tear, the black tear, had run along Dark Sen's index finger and had formed a small bead at the end of her nail. The bead was not yet heavy enough for gravity to take its toll on it, but soon, it would fall.

_What if Dark Sen notices it?_ Chihiro asked herself, worriedly. With that thought vibrating through her glowing being, she wrapped herself into a shining ball. That ball jumped through the now dimming core of Dark Sen. As Chihiro looked around her and saw that the light was fading everywhere, she knew she must hurry, or else Dark Sen would become completely whole, and then They would triumph.

The ball that Chihiro was rolled faster and faster, spinning through Dark Sen's body. Dark Sen felt the vibrations that Chihiro was making, but dismissed them as her power returning. Chihiro sped faster and faster, gaining more and more power. She was glowing so bright that Dark Sen began to feel pinpricks of pain spread throughout her body. She stopped laughing, and cast her self inward. She materialized inside of her heart, which turned grey. No one was controlling the body now. It sat there, frozen as when Dark Sen left it. The tear, however, still dangled on the edge on her finger, but it was not yet large enough to fill the gap in the eyes.

Dark Sen spread out her being, a deep inky blackness that spread throughout, hunting down the reasons for the sudden pain. Chihiro noticed a darkness growing behind her, so she sped up, her ball-shaped body moving even faster, spiraling so quickly that sparks flew off her now fiery body. Dark Sen sensed her, though, and let out a roar of anger. She whirled into a dragon made of shadows and zoomed after her. Dark Sen was catching up when Chihiro entered the index finger.

This entire time, Lin had been approaching the abandoned body, afraid it would come to life and attack her. As nothing of the sort happened, Lin was soon standing next to the empty body.

"Please," Lin whispered, holding the body's empty hand close to herself. "Don't the darkness win." She folded the body's and her hand together, praying.

Chihiro heard Lin's murmur, and knew she had to do what was right. She was nearly at the drop when Dark Sen, in dragon form, swooped past her and landed in front of her, forcing her to stop in the very end of the grey tunnel.

"You're not getting past me!" it hissed, black smoke curling out of its nostrils. "I will remain the controller of this body, and the darkness will triumph! There is nothing you can do to stop me!" The dragon began to make a coughing, hacking sound. Chihiro was alarmed, thinking that it was about to attack her, or it was choking, but it was only the dragon's version of laughter.

Chihiro was torn. At one point, she wanted to stay and fight Dark Sen. On the other hand, she wanted to make the tear fall. She debated for a moment, tilting her head to one side while the dragon continued laughing. She decided: the tear.

Rolling quickly up into a ball again, Chihiro sped through the dragon's legs. Dark Sen, caught completely off guard with her laughing, snorted, wisps of black flame coming out of her nostrils, and lifted off the ground to fly after Chihiro, but she was too late. Chihiro was already at the end of the grey corridor, where a blazing door of light was stationed. Chihiro unrolled, turning back into a blazing flare of light, and stepped through the door, and into the black tear.

There was darkness all around her, trapping her, smothering her. Lin noticed the black drop on the body's finger swelling up, and watched it as it slowly, slowly, so slow that the world seemed to have stopped, detached itself from the finger and fell slowly through the air. Chihiro thrashed and rolled, trying to get a smidgen of air into her dimming body. Her light grew smaller and smaller, and her struggles grew weaker and weaker. She had no knowledge of the fact that the tear was almost at the ground. It hit.

The tear shattered into a thousand tiny droplets, scattering everywhere. Chihiro was thrown to the ground, an insignificant little light. Inside of the body, the dragon screamed in anger, pain, fear. Lin heard that scream and backed away, her mind now filling with all sorts of new dangers. The dragon exploded, bits of shadow flying everywhere. They were quickly sucked into the door of light and back out into the air, where they were torn apart by the whipping wind now flying through the compartment.

Chihiro felt herself blown away, into the air by the strong force of the wind. The wind seemed to take her on a course directly for the frozen body. She landed on it, directly on the heart, and was pulled inside. The wind was still blowing her, somehow, and she was carried directly to the frozen, grey heart. The wind died inside the body, though it still whipped strongly outside. Lin began to scream in terror, feeling as though the wind were ripping the train right off the tracks. Chihiro, unfazed by anything that was around her, stepped forward and touched the frozen heart. Her fingers began to pulse with a warm, yellow light that lit up the entire body, and Lin could see it. It glowed right through the body's skin, turning the clammy blue skin into a healthy pale color.

Chihiro began to hum a song. She had never heard the song before, but it seemed familiar, and something she had to do. She quietly began to whisper the words to the soothing song, her voice growing in strength as she did. Lin sat, spellbound, hearing a familiar voice singing words that she felt as if she had heard before. She glanced at the still immobile body, but the lips were not moving.

"Ba da da. Ba da da. Hear my voice, singing words to you. It's my song, they're my words, and I'm here, coming back to you." Chihiro sang, putting her heart into her words and sing with an unrivaled passion. "It's the end, of our time, but we'll be, together, we'll see." **(The song is at youtube, just look up "A Bottle of Water song". It wouldn't let me put the actual address on here.) ** As the last note floated out into the air, the light grew brighter and brighter, so bright that Chihiro and Lin covered their eyes in pain. The body fell backwards, the wind stopped howling, and the light slowly faded.

Lin saw the body fall back, and quickly ran over to it. Kneeling down next to it, she shook it, hoping to wake whoever was inside it up.

"Sen! Sen!" she called, shaking her fiercely. Sen didn't stir, though her eyelids trembled in fear. "Chihiro!" Lin screamed. "Wake up, you dope!" She broke down, crying. She didn't think Chihiro would wake up.

Suddenly, Lin felt a warm pressure on the hand she was resting on Chihiro. She looked up, and saw Chihiro squeezing her hand and smiling at her. Lin began crying once more, tears of joy, and leapt on top of Chihiro, hugging her fiercely.

Far away, hiding in a small cavern, and clutching his wounded arm, Haku crouched, waiting for a band of black-armor-clad guards to march by. They were tramping so loud he couldn't even hear his breathing. Suddenly, Haku heard a single song, sung in a familiar voice, echoing through his mind. He smiled. It was just like Chihiro.

"Ba da da…"


	8. What if she doesn't come?

**(Sorry it's kind of short. I didn't want to add anything to my two separate parts, but otherwise, I think it's pretty good. I'll try to always keep them longer than this, but this is the one exception. Enjoy!!!)**

Lin and Chihiro sat on their knees, staring out their windows at the darkening landscape. Chihiro was smiling as she pointed out bits of scenery to Lin.

Lin looked at her smiling face, thinking. _Should I have told her what happened? About the strange things she did?_ Lin thought, questioning her idea to tell Chihiro that she had just fallen asleep. Chihiro, trusting her, had swallowed the lie, and thought everything had been a dream. _Maybe… No._ Lin shook her head. _She's happy, and I don't want to ruin that. She'll doubt herself, and she needs her confidence._ Lin opened her eyes to see the train slowing down.

"Lin," asked Chihiro, turning towards her. "Isn't this our stop? Don't we get off here?"

Lin nodded, her cloudy eyes brightening, though not with happiness. They were here. Where Darkness was rampant. She shuddered inwardly as she followed Chihiro off of the train. How was Chihiro not unnerved at all.

In fact, Chihiro wanted to turn around and run home. She thought Lin wasn't telling her something, with all those quick glances at her when she thought Chihiro wasn't looking, and now that she was finally where They, whoever They were, were, she was scared. She knew she had to do it for Haku. Chihiro turned to Lin.

"Lin, I know I'm being a dope, but…" Chihiro trailed off, glancing around nervously. She didn't like this place one bit. The trees were gnarled and freaky looking, and there were lots of grey clouds in the sky. There also seemed to be an enormous amount of bats, too. It was like a horror movie brought to life. Chihiro turned back to Lin. "I'm scared." She looked at Lin with big eyes.

Lin smiled at her. "You're not being a dope, for once." She answered, ruffling Chihiro's hair. "In fact," she added in an undertone, looking around as if she were afraid someone would hear her, "I'm scared, too." She took Chihiro's hand in her own. "But if we're together, we're twice as strong. Understand?" Chihiro nodded, brightening up.

Hand in hand, the pair walked off down the path into the creepy woods. Behind them, the train left the station. This was its last stop on its route, and the last stop it would ever make here.

Haku darted back to his "camp", darting between the trees. He dove into his cave, hiding just as soon as the sound of marching feet came around the bend in the path. He closed his eyes and huddled deep in the corner of the cave, waiting for it to be over.

As soon as the footsteps stopped, and the dark soldiers were out of sight, someone else flitted into the cave. She had long blond hair that reached to her waist, and was wearing a simple tank white dress that reached to her ankles. She, like most spirits, was barefoot, but she clutched one of her arms, and winced terribly. Moaning, she collapsed to the floor.

"Little!" exclaimed Haku, rushing over to her and beginning to bind her arm, "What happened to you!?"

"Somebody saw me, and I was shot. I already pulled the arrow out, though." She flinched every time he touched her arm. "Haku?"

"Hmm?" He was preoccupied with her wound.

"We can't do it."

"There!" Haku sat back, finished. He turned to Little. "What did you say?"

"We can't do it."

"What?" Surprise was not a strong enough word for the look that flashed over Haku's face. "What do you mean, we can't? We've worked so hard at delaying these soldiers, and Chihiro's coming soon!"

"We're just delaying them!" Little shot back, angry now. "And besides, what can Chihiro do? She's a human!"

"Chihiro saved my life! She'll be able to help us when she arrives…" Haku explained gently, calming Little down. She turned away for a moment, seeming to ponder his words. But when she looked back, tears were in her eyes.

"What if she doesn't come?" she asked, her voice wavering. "What if she doesn't come?"

"What?" asked Haku, astonished she would even ask a question like that. "Are you serious?"

"What if she doesn't come?"

"She will come! How could you even ask that?"

"Haku, answer me," Tears were streaming down Little's face now, but she made no move to stop them. "What if she doesn't come? What'll happen to us? What'll happen to the world? What if she doesn't come?"

Haku slowly enveloped her in a hug, her face pressed against his shoulder. He had no answer for her question, nor did he want to know the answer, if there was one.

"What if she doesn't come?" Sobbing, Little pressed her face into Haku's shoulder.

Haku reached down and began sort of patting and stroking her head. _What if she doesn't come? What if she doesn't come?_


	9. The Blind River

Lin and Chihiro walked through the dark forest, with Chihiro clinging desperately to Lin's arm. Lin looked down at her. "Let go, you dope. There's nothing he-" She was cut off as there was a rustle in the bushes next to them. Both girls shrieked and ran as fast as they could. After running for a bit, they slowed down. "You were such a dope, Chihiro. It was probably just a bird."

Chihiro shook her head. "In the bushes? Nuh-uh. Besides, you ran just as fast as I did." She stopped. "Did you hear that?"

Lin laughed. "Again? Chihiro, there's nothing here. I guarantee it." Just then, heavy footfalls were heard. "We got to get out of here!"

"But where?" Chihiro looked around desperately, but there was nowhere to go. There were only a bunch of knotted old trees. All of a sudden, Lin and Chihiro were both thrown to the ground on either side of the practically invisible path. "Wha-" Chihiro was cut off as a hand was clapped over her mouth.

"Ssh!" A voice whispered in her ear. Chihiro turned her head slightly to see who it was, but the person just pushed her head against the dirt even harder. "Don't move!"

"Haku?" Chihiro tried once again to see, but he pushed her down again.

"It's me, Chihiro. Now shush. We can't get caught." At these words, both Lin and Chihiro stopped their struggling, and just in time, for at that moment, the footsteps were almost upon them. They continued on, though, not pausing by where the three were hidden.

When the sound of footsteps faded away, Lin let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Who were they, Haku?"

Haku shook his head, helping them both to their feet. "Not now. We can't talk here." He glanced quickly from side to side, looking for any movement. "I have a place where I've been hiding. You'll be safe there. Besides…" He looked back at them, smiling. "There's someone I want you two to meet."

After a while of walking through the trees, they approached a large stone wall. Haku let a bird call, one that Chihiro had never heard before. It was answered with another call, and a stone in the wall opened slightly, large enough for someone Lin's size to pass through. Haku looked back at them, and motioned them in. "Come on!" he called, climbing through the hole. Lin went right in after him, and Chihiro, after hesitating a moment, followed. Haku closed the hole behind them, and led them through a tunnel.

After walking a short while, they reached an open cavern. Inside was a girl, Little, on her knees and stirring a large pot filled over an open flame. She looked up at them, smiling. "Haku! You're back! And…" she frowned slightly. "Who's with you?"

"This is Lin and Chihiro. See, I told you she would come." Haku smiled brightly.

Chihiro turned to look at him. "Wait… How did you know I was coming?"

Haku shook his head. "I didn't know. I only hoped. But, when I heard you singing, I knew you would come."

Chihiro turned to Lin. "I thought I was only singing in my dream. Was I… really singing?"

Lin nodded, smiling. "That part wasn't a dream, Chihiro. You were honest-to-goodness singing, you dope." _I feel kind of guilty not telling her the truth._

Hearing this, Little's eyes widened. _What truth is she not telling? I must find out._ She got slowly to her feet. "Hello. I'm Haku's sister, Little."

Both Lin and Chiro gasped. "How can a river spirit have a sister, Haku?" asked Chihiro, astonished.

Haku smiled at their surprise. "Well, you know how the Kohaku River was basically cut in half?" They both nodded. "Well, Little is the spirit of that river. The spirit of the Little Kohaku River."

Little nodded. "Yes. And I have heard a great many tales of you, Chihiro." However, when she said this, her eyes did not move to Chihiro, but stayed straight ahead, staring at nothingness.

Chihiro was puzzled. "Umm… I'm over here!" she announced, waving her arms. Little smiled sadly at her ignorance.

"Little is blind," Haku explained, glancing sympathetically at her. "Because the Little Kohaku River is so polluted, it's begun to affect her, too. However, she can still use her other five senses better than most spirits."

Little nodded slowly at her. "I'm fine with it, though; I really don't mind overly much. However, when we finish this war, I'm going to go back to my river and clean it up. Maybe you can help me." She smiled at the thought.

That reminded Chihiro of something. She turned to Haku. "Who are we fighting, exactly? No one seems to know."

Haku sighed, and sat down. "You might as well join me. It's going to be a long story." Little, already having heard Haku sit down, had joined him on the dirty stone floor. The other two quickly followed. "You cannot repeat this story to anyone. Got it?" The girls nodded. "Good. Where shall I start…"


	10. Dark

**(I'm really sorry for the delay! My computer's hard drive broke, and it took forever to find one that would work! Just makes me so mad, though I did get a lot of chapters written in the meantime. Anyway, from now on I'm uploading one chapter for ****A Bottle of Water**** every Monday. I wish I could upload twice, but since I'm doing three fanfics at once… So, if I happen to be gone on vacation or something, and don't get to upload, I'll upload two the next week, okay? I won't just abandon my fanfics. Anyway, enjoy!!!)**

Haku began the story. "Chihiro, remember the spirit that you let into the bathhouse? The one that went crazy and destroyed everything?" Chihiro blushed, looking down at the dirt floor, and nodded. "There are more spirits like that. Most of the time, they never find their crazy place, and live their life normally. However, there was one of those spirits who was different. He was smarter, and, for reasons we don't know, he wants to destroy the bathhouse."

Chihiro looked up. "Why on earth would anyone want to destroy the bathhouse?"

Little smiled sorrowfully. "We don't know. Unfortunately, we may never know. This spirit, somewhere, learned some abilities, magic, if you wish, that the world should never see. I myself know some of that 'black magic', and every day I wish it wouldn't torment me." She frowned for a moment, as if considering what she had said, but continued. "He called himself Dark."

Lin snorted. "That is the _lamest_ name I've ever heard. Dark. He might as well call himself 'Idiot' and get it over with."

Little laughed. A high, tinkling sound that was as light as a breeze. It was a beautiful sound. "You are funny…Lin? I believe you're Lin. Am I right?"

Lin smiled. "Correct."

Haku waved at all of them. "Nice bonding, but let's get back to the subject. Dark then raised up specters." Seeing Chihiro's blank look, he explained. "Specters are dead bodies reborn again. Because they have no souls in them, they can be used as puppets. They were the ones marching."

Chihiro shuddered. "That's really creepy. And kind of gross."

Little nodded. "Yes. I suppose it is rather unpleasant. I expect you know of the essence sucking?"

Chihiro's face lit up. "Thanks for reminding me, Little!" She dug around in her bag and pulled out the bottle of Haku's essence. She held it out toward him. "Here's your essence, Haku!"

Little's cloudy eyes widened. "Haku, you gave her your essence? Are you mad?"

Haku looked unapologetic. "We can trust Chihiro." He turned toward her, and took the bottle out of her hands. It lit up, and the water began to flow faster and faster, forming an upside-down whirlpool. It grew and grew, using up all of the water in the bottle, yet still getting larger, until it rose up out of the bottle and engulfed Haku. He was unseen among the flowing water. After it had completely surrounded Haku, the water grew faster, getting taller and taller. Then, it stopped.

The water was sucked up into the center of itself, and at the center was Haku. All the water flowed into him, and then he opened his eyes, which had been closed to avoid the water. Chihiro saw a sparkle in his eyes that hadn't been there before, and sighed with relief. The old Haku was back.

Haku smiled at her. "Thanks. It feels so good to be whole again." He took in a big breath of air.

Little rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "You would've been whole if you hadn't decided to remove your essence in the first place."

Haku bared his teeth at her, in a kind of half snarl. "I needed to get past the guards. They couldn't sense me if I didn't have an essence."

Little raised her hands high above her head. "And if I hadn't spotted you, you wouldn't be here right now."

Chihiro blinked in surprise. "Wait… What? Haku, you would've died if Little hadn't been there?"

Haku nodded sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "Yes. Spirits can't last without their essences, but river spirits are a little more flexible. We can last a short while without our essences, and I had basically exceeded that limit. I would've crumpled into dust if it weren't for Little." He smiled happily at his sister. "Because we're siblings, our essences are almost the same. So, she gave me a bit of her essence, so I would survive. That wouldn't last forever, though, so I'm glad you brought my essence."

Lin had a puzzled look on her face. "Wouldn't that hurt?" When everyone (except Little) looked at her questioningly, she explained. "Wouldn't it hurt to give part of your essence away? I mean, after all, it is the core of your body."

Little nodded. "It did hurt, and now I have a little less power than I did before. But, it was worth it. I mean, I'd rather be weaker than let my brother die."

Haku sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, I owe her my life. Now, can we move away from the sappy stuff here, and talk about what's important." Chihiro blinked. Haku had changed. "We need to stop Dark. I wanted Chihiro to come here because of one important factor: She's a human. Dark's black magic can only be used on spirits, making her invulnerable to his attacks. However, she can still be hurt by his specters, so that's where we come in."

"Hold up a sec." Lin crossed her arms, frowning. "Do you have a plan?"

Little nodded. "Yes. We know where Dark's stronghold is. We try to sneak in, but, if that doesn't work, we battle our way in. Then, we find Dark."

"After th-" Haku was cut off, as he collapsed onto the dirt floor.

Chihiro leapt up in alarm. "Haku!" She raced over to him and knelt down on the floor.

Little laughed. "Chihiro, he's just tired. He'll be fine. Absorbing his essence must have been exhausting." She walked over to Chihiro and helped her up. "You two should get some sleep, too. It must have been a rough trip."

Chihiro nodded. "I have one question, though. Haku gave up his essence to cross the border, but we got over fine on the train. What's up with that?"

Little laughed again. "You're not over the border yet. We'll show you it tomorrow. For now, sleep." Chihiro lay down on the dirt floor next to Lin, who was sprawled out, already fast asleep. Little smiled, and then sat down next to Haku, pondering what had happened that day. _I must ask Lin what she didn't tell Chihiro. It could be important. Also,_ she thought, looking down at Haku, _I wonder if her meant to tell them…_ She shrugged. _Not like I'll find out tonight._ With that, she lay down next to Haku and closed her cloudy eyes. _I hope he's not right, though…_


End file.
